


A Woman's World

by Onehelluvapilot



Series: Call the Merlin [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1950s, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Character Study, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Genderbending, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Inspired by Call the Midwife, Menstruation, everyone is a woman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:49:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28799379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onehelluvapilot/pseuds/Onehelluvapilot
Summary: Gwen teaches the knights/midwives about what it's like to be a woman. Set in my Call the Midwife fusion universe, and while I don't think it's strictly necessary, it would probably help you to understand this one if you read Call the Merlin first.
Relationships: Gwen & Knights of the Round Table (Merlin)
Series: Call the Merlin [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111499
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11
Collections: Gwen Fest





	A Woman's World

Gwen rapped on the door to the Nonatus House bathroom. The nuns were all in complin, so she knew it was one of the midwives, but she wasn’t sure who. When she had first arrived, it had been simply her, Merlin, and Leon, but the convent was gradually growing more full as the other knights were reincarnated, and now everyone was back except Arthur. Whoever it was in the bathroom, they’d been in there for awhile, and Gwen really had to pee.

“Are you going to be done soon?” she asked. There was movement in the bathroom, and the door opened after a minute to reveal Layla. Lancelot’s female reincarnation looked distressed, her pretty lips pinched unhappily. She made no move to leave the bathroom, instead hiding halfway behind the door. “Is something the matter?” Gwen asked, lowering her voice so no one else would overhear.

“I’m bleeding,” Layla admitted in a whisper. “I- I’m sorry, I have no idea what to do-”

“You got your period?” The other girl nodded. “Do you want help?” Another nod. “Do you have a sanitary belt?”

“A what?”

“I’m going to take that as a no, then. Let me go grab one.” Gwen herself preferred tampons, despite the fact that they weren’t really approved of for unmarried women. She didn’t hold with society trying to regulate what women could do with their own bodies. Thankfully though, she’d kept the elastic belt she’d used before deciding on tampons, and still had some of the disposable pads as well. Those would be easier for Layla, who was still getting used to having a vagina in the first place, much less having something in it. The other women at the chemist had tried to commiserate with Gwen when she’d been buying the belt and tampons about what a struggle it was to get one’s monthlies, but she didn’t quite get what the problem was. The disposable sanitary items they had now were so much better than the scraps of fabric and absorbent blood moss they’d had back in Camelot that she couldn’t complain about it. She quickly grabbed the belt and some pads from her luggage and slipped back to see Layla.

“I’m so sorry,” the girl apologized as Gwen stepped into the bathroom. “I just didn’t know what to do; I know I should, being a midwife and all, but-”

“It’s fine, Lance,” she assured her. The woman still liked to be called by her old name sometimes, and she figured that the reincarnated knight might take comfort from it when she was otherwise distressed and feeling out of place. “You’re used to dealing with pregnant women who aren’t getting their periods, and you’ve been a woman for less than a month. The others have all had to get used to it as well. Priscilla’s bled through twice already, and we spent half an hour scrubbing blood out of her uniform. And Trudie got terrible cramps and didn’t realize what they were until I asked why she could barely stand up straight when she came down for dinner.”

“Is that why my back hurts?” Layla asked. She had one hand pressed against the small of her back as the other clutched the sink.

“Yes, I’m afraid so.”   
“And…” she started to ask, but trailed off before she finished the question.

“And?” Gwen prompted. She smiled reassuringly. “It’s okay; it’s just us girls.”

Layla cracked an unsure smile at that in response. Emboldened, she asked, “Is that why my breasts have hurt the past few days?”

“Yes, probably. Not all women get PMS, pre-menstrual syndrome, but that’s a common symptom. Now, let me show you how this works?” she suggested, holding up the sanitary belt. Layla blushed but nodded, and they soon had her sorted out.

When the Triple Goddess had sent everyone back, she’d made sure to give them all the nursing and midwifery knowledge they would need for their work, but she hadn’t provided the knights with the practical knowledge on how to exist in a female body. That all fell to Gwen to help them with. As she’d told Layla, menstruation was a bit of a challenge for all of them at first. At least since they were adult women instead of teenagers, they had more regular cycles than their teacher herself had started out with, so they weren’t as caught off guard by them after the first time.

Their periods actually were one of the less complicated things to deal with. Evelyn complained that having to style her hair was worse, because it had to be done every day instead of just a few day a month, and Leona still hated women’s clothing. She was okay with their uniforms, since with the cloaks they reminded her of her knight’s outfit from Camelot, but trying to get her to wear a dress was a disaster. Priscilla liked her undergarments, which she said felt like armor and made her feel pretty as well as strong, but she could never get them on by herself with the clasps behind her, and Trudie or Layla had to fumble with helping her most mornings.

For some things, it was surprisingly fun for Gwen to teach them. It felt almost like what she might have done with a daughter, if she’d ever had one. She loved doing their hair their first few days and guiding them through how to braid it themselves. They offered to do her hair in return, but she only let Evelyn do so, since her hair was even curlier so she’d have a better idea of how to style it without damaging it as much. Although, Gwen wasn’t sure if any amount of pulling and ripping would do as much damage as when she’d tried to flatiron it, since that was the style nowadays. With everyone except Leon, there had also been the moment when they gave her a fashion show in their rooms with all their new clothes or came out for the first time in a full face of makeup and looking gorgeous. Trudie loved high heels, which hadn’t been invented until long after they had all lived, and in turn taught Gwen how to walk in them. She didn’t find them very practical, but she did delight in not being so much shorter than all her friends anymore.

Other aspects of it were less fun. She and Evelyn had been catcalled down on the docks one day while just standing and eating chips, and having to convince her sister to just let it go so she didn’t get hurt made Gwen’s heart break a little. As did Layla coming home one night holding her cloak tightly around herself and refusing to go out alone after dark anymore. Marilyn or Priscilla, who was usually taunted for her size instead of being made to fear for her safety, went with her now when she wanted to go on a walk around the town or to go get a pastry after dinner. One day, a few weeks after Trudie had first arrived at Nonnatus, she approached the other woman after lunch.

“Gwen!” she greeted warmly. Gwaine had not lost his exuberance during the reincarnation, and so she was a little more in one’s face than was really acceptable for a woman, but that was alright with her friends, even though it cost her in the social standing department with all her flirting with men and going out to the pub. Today, though, her demeanor was a little more muted as she gently reached out for her friend’s hand. “Listen, I know it was 1400 years ago now, but I’d like to apologize for what I did when we first met. You had given me no indication that you wanted to flirt when I approached you, and it was especially awful of me to let you go until you’d told me your name. I understand now how uncomfortable and unsafe that must’ve made you feel, and I’m sorry.”

“Has someone done that to you?” the woman asked.

“Gwen, do you ever stop looking after other people?” Trudie asked, her tone at once teasing and a little bit awestruck. “I’m trying to apologize for hurting you, and your first thought is to ask if I’m okay.”

She waved a hand dismissively. “What you did wasn’t that bad, honestly. I’ve had men do so much worse.” At that, Trudie’s face twisted in alarm, but she shook it off again. “Anyway, as you said, it was a long time ago, and I’ve already forgiven you. Now,” she said firmly, very much falling back into what Merlin called her ‘queen voice.’ “Is there a man that’s been bothering you?”

“No, it’s nothing serious. Just some guy at the pub.”

“Okay, well, keep an eye out for him next time you’re there, especially as you’re leaving. If he starts to follow you, find another woman to walk with to a phonebooth and call back here, and one of us will come meet you to walk home with safely.”

Trudie cringed. “Is this really what life is like as a woman?” she asked sadly.

“Not all the time!” Gwen rushed to reassure her. “There are good things about it too!”

And there were. Despite all the disadvantages of being a woman in a patriarchal world, she was still glad to be sent back as one. For one thing, she wanted to be a mother someday, and as someone who had always loved easily and fully, she couldn’t imagine being forced to stifle her emotions like men had to. Female friendship, she decided, was also one of the best things in the world. She couldn’t imagine anything replicating that feeling of being so totally comfortable with other girls that you could be yourself and it felt like nothing could touch you. She and the other midwives were walking home from the movies one night, in a large enough group that they felt perfectly safe, and Gwen realized she was the happiest she had been in a long, long time, as they laughed and joked with one another and stopped to buy crisps. No, being a woman was definitely not all bad.


End file.
